Create more personalized emails to improve engagement

Engage contacts with personalized content and segment your lists to improve open and click rates

Your contacts don't all join your mailing list for the same reason, but they're usually sent the same content. When your contacts can't relate to your content, they won't see the value in reading it, and that can negatively impact your email performance. There are some things you can do to make your email more personal:

• Segment your contacts to send more targeted content
• Personalize your subject line
• Add your contact's details
• Customize your content
• Include a handwritten signature

Segment your contacts to send more targeted content

Segmentation helps you group your contacts based on similar attributes so that you can send each group the content that’s relevant to them. You may end up sending more emails, but they should be shorter emails with clear calls-to-action that lead to increased engagement. To start, your contacts can segment themselves when they join your mailing list through your sign-up form! You can have separate sign-up forms for the different types of content you plan to send, or have one sign-up form and let your subscribers select the email lists they want to be part of based on the type of information they want to receive from you. 

You can also have your contacts automatically segmented into different lists based on their click behavior, or create custom segments based on their personal details, email engagement, purchase activity, or the lists they're already part of.  Once your contacts are segmented, you'll notice that it's easier to sit down and create your emails because you'll have a better idea of your audience and what their interests are when they join your list. When you send an email to each list or segment, you can make sure the content is specific to that target audience. 

Tip: Help keep your contact details and email preferences up-to-date by encouraging them to use the Update Profile Form!

Personalize your subject line

The first thing your contacts see is your subject line, so it makes sense to take advantage of it by adding contact details or even emoji. Think beyond just throwing a name in there—the key is to make the subject line meaningful. If your email content benefits different contacts in different ways, segment your lists and write a few subject lines that reflect those differences. You'll have an easier time figuring out which contact details to include in your subject line when you know exactly which audience you're speaking to. Don't forget to use the email preheader to give your subject line a one-two punch!

Tip: Having trouble coming up with an enticing subject line or preheader? Use one of our recommendations based on your email content and industry!

Add your contact's details

The simplest solution for personalizing your email is to add your contact's name. A Greeting Tag pulls the name stored in the contact record and displays it to each recipient. Names don't have to just appear in the first paragraph of your email, though—add them to headlines to really make them stand out.


 

If you've collected standard information about your contacts, like their birthday, the town they live in, or even something more unique like their pet's name, you can include the information throughout your email the same way you add a Greeting Tag. The text appears seamless to your contacts but is more engaging, because they don't have to think about how it applies to them—they can see that it does.

Note: When you preview your email or send a test, the contact detail displays the personal information for your own account to give you an idea of what your contacts will see. If the information isn't available to pull into your preview, or if you're using custom fields, the fallback text displays instead.

Customize your content

The images you choose and the way you phrase things makes a difference to your audience. Once you've taken the time to segment your contacts, you have an opportunity to make them feel special with unique content. The way you change your content doesn't even have to be that drastic—just changing the subject line and preheader is a great start! You can even customize an email with dynamic content to target different contacts and only show what’s relevant to them based on their city, state, or other custom field.

Note: When sending a test version of your email, you'll see the dynamic content based on the details for your own account. Dynamic content blocks using custom fields will not display in your test email. If you want to fully test your dynamic content, make a copy of your email and send the copy to yourself before sending the original to your contacts.

Include a handwritten signature

We look at typed communications all day long, and a handwritten signature gives the impression that you care just a little bit more because you took the time to personally sign your message.


 

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